Machiavelli's Folly
by Heavenly Pearl
Summary: In order to save the world from destruction, Uranus and her partners plan to kill Tomoe Hotaru, now Mistress 9, before she has the chance to awaken as Sailor Saturn, but will the end justify their means?


Machiavelli's Folly

"Her heart is failing. There's nothing more we can do."

In the back of the room where I stood with my lover and our comrade, separate from the others, I could only watch for a moment as a tearful Usagi ran over to her future daughter's bedside before turning my eyes away from the heartbreaking scene, my fist clenched so tightly at my side, I could feel my fingertips digging into the flesh of my palm. Setsuna, practically the little girl's second mother, was almost in tears herself, and Michiru was resting her head on my shoulder, an arm wrapped around my waist.

We had expected the news, but it didn't make it any easier to hear for the younger girls, still in shock over what had happened. While Chibi-Usa's pseudo-parents comforted each other in their grief, Minako and Rei held each other in a tight hug and Makoto was blotting her eyes with a beautifully embroidered handkerchief. Ami, the aspiring doctor, managed to get a hold of the attending doctor's clipboard and was intently studying the chart for any hope that his diagnosis was wrong.

She wouldn't find any.

When Hotaru -- no, the vessel -- stole Chibi-Usa's ginzuishou, she had taken more than just a stone of great power. The ginzuishou was also the little girl's soul, so bonded with its owner's heart that one could not survive without the other. If we didn't get that crystal back, and soon, Chibi-Usa would die, as well as the rest of the world.

I cursed myself for our hesitation in completing our mission. This never would have happened if we had killed Hotaru when we had the chance. We shouldn't have let the others' emotions for the young girl distract us from what needed to be done.

I would not make that mistake again. Tomoe Hotaru may have been Chibi-Usa's friend, but she was also an enormous threat, even if she had yet to awaken as Sailor Saturn. The fact that she had completed vessel transformation and was now controlled by the enemy made the situation even more dire than before. There was no telling what our foes would do with her power at their disposal.

We only had one choice.

Disengaging myself from Michiru's embrace, I turned to the others, setting my face into the unfeeling mask I had perfected from the moment I first learned of my destiny. This was not the time to get emotional, not when there was so much at stake.

"Her soul has been stolen," I informed them, breaking the somber quiet of the hospital room. "There's still a chance we can save Chibi-Usa-chan, but we have to get her soul back before it's too late."

"Her soul?" Usagi repeated, looking over at us after wiping away some of her tears. It seemed as if she had forgotten we were even there.

"The Death Busters steal the souls of humans," Michiru explained, picking up where I had left off. "They then turn the soulless bodies into their slaves, or vessels."

"Then Hotaru-chan…that form she took…"

Setsuna shook her head. "Sailor Saturn has not awakened. The three talismans have not yet activated."

"We never expected this to happen," I admitted, frowning. "They've already made Hotaru-chan into a vessel. The woman we saw is no longer the girl you knew, Usagi-chan. She's an enemy, and when she took Chibi-Usa-chan's ginzuishou, she also took Chibi-Usa-chan's soul."

"What will happen to Chibi-Usa and Hotaru-chan now?" Usagi asked.

"Vessels survive by feeding on the human soul, but even if vessel transformation is successful, they will eventually go through genetic regression into a daimon. Once they change into that, there's no hope. It's impossible for them to live in this world in any form."

As I suspected, the news that all the daimon they had fought so far were once human did not go over well with the others. Several of the girls looked positively sick to their stomachs, Usagi included. Not for the first time, I wondered how they had gotten so far as soldiers when they couldn't even accept the fact that sometimes sacrifices had to be made. It wasn't as if we could have saved those victims anyway once they became daimon.

War was rarely as black and white as they wanted it to be.

"No… What we've been fighting so far has been an enemy joined with a human?" Usagi asked, bringing a hand to her mouth. "There's nothing we can do if they become a daimon?"

"Now that Hotaru has become a vessel, our job is easier. She would only have died in agony anyway. We'll just put her out of her misery," I declared, purposely ignoring the blonde's questions.

"But, Haruka-san, that's--"

"She has Chibi-Usa-chan's ginzuishou! Don't you care about that at all?" I asked, in disbelief that our princess was still concerned with Hotaru's welfare when the girl was the reason why her daughter was dying. "If you want to save Chibi-Usa-chan, we have to fight Hotaru-chan and take it back. If we don't kill her, she will kill us! Even if Sailor Saturn doesn't awaken, destruction will come. Kill or be killed; make your choice."

"I understand what you're saying, but there has to be another way," she insisted. "Chibi-Usa loves Hotaru-chan. She's her best friend. I couldn't possibly…"

"I see." I should have known it would be impossible to convince the princess to join us in our mission. It looked as if we couldn't work together, after all. "Even if you won't join us, we're going," I decided, heading toward the door. "Not only to save Chibi-Usa, but to save the world."

* * *

After leaving the hospital, we transformed and headed toward Mugen Academy. I was running faster than I ever had before, the others struggling to keep up, but somehow, it never seemed quite fast enough. With every second that passed, we were that much closer to the destruction of the world, the destruction we vowed to prevent no matter what the cost.

As we neared the school, I tried not to think about that cost, reminding myself that the girl we knew as Tomoe Hotaru no longer existed. Her body was being used as a vessel, but the soul was gone. She was nothing more than a zombie now, a creature of the living dead. There was no sin in killing somebody who was already dead, right?

"Uranus, stop!"

Hearing Neptune's shout, I slowed to a stop and looked behind me. My comrades were lightly panting, but I knew a little exertion wasn't the reason they stopped. Following their eyes, I turned back around to see what they were staring at and gasped.

We were only a few blocks away from the building, but it might as well have been a hundred. Every plant and tree surrounding the immediate area of the school was growing at an abnormally fast rate, creating a jungle as thick as an Amazon rain forest. If not for Neptune's shout, I more than likely would have ran straight into a barrier of thorny vines only a few hundred feet in front of me.

"What the--"

"I feel a disturbance," Pluto said, coming up beside me. "There's a flux in the time-space continuum around that building."

"Does that mean it's already happening?" I asked, almost fearing to hear her answer. "Are we too late, Pluto?"

"I don't know. It could just be a spell."

"Then we keep going." Walking over to the vine blockade, I pulled out my Space Sword and cut through. "Well, what are you waiting for?" I asked. "Come on!"

Following my example, the other two also pulled out their talismans, using them as makeshift knives as we slowly made our way through the jungle with me taking the lead with my more effective sword, but our weapons didn't do much good. Almost as soon as we cut something down, it would regenerate, thicker than before. Worse, some of the plants were even attacking us, trees trying to capture us with their branches and vines wrapping themselves around our ankles, wrists, and necks in an effort to hold us back.

"Shimatta! This is getting us nowhere!" I cursed, using my sword to free Michiru from some vines. "We can't get anywhere near the school. I getting a bad feeling about this."

"I've got even more bad news," Michiru announced once she had been released. "Look."

She held up her mirror so that Pluto and I could see what she was talking about. Reflected on the mirror's surface was a scene of the princess's guardians molded to what looked like a very tall pile of melted wax. Pluto gasped.

"They're in trouble, Uranus! We have to help them."

"We don't have time to concern ourselves with them, Pluto," I said, fighting every urge I had to go rescue the four girls who, despite our differences, had become our friends. "We have to get to the vessel and save Chibi-Usa-chan's crystal."

"B-But --"

"They can handle it themselves. We have more important things to worry about right now. Now, let's go!"

By that time, I was thoroughly pissed at the ever-growing forest. In the last fifteen minutes, we had barely managed to cover half a block. If this kept up, we wouldn't make it to the school for another hour, if we were lucky. It was time to try a different approach.

SPACE SWORD BLASTER!

Using my attack, I cut through a good portion of the forest, clearing us a pathway. I roughly grabbed Neptune's wrist and began running toward the school, knowing we only had a little time before the plants started to grow back. Somehow, Pluto managed to keep up with us, and after a couple more attacks, we finally made it.

"Where do we go now?" Pluto asked, looking to Neptune, who was already trying to get a reading on her Aqua Mirror. "The laboratories?"

"No, behind the school," Neptune said, "and quick. She's about to swallow the ginzuishou!"

I started running as soon as the words "behind the school" left her mouth, adrenaline coursing through my veins and providing me with the energy to keep going despite the slight fatigue I felt. I had a good idea where the vessel was. At the back of the school, I remembered there was a building that I always assumed to be a second, private greenhouse, though I never saw any of the members of the gardening club go inside. That had to be the place Neptune saw in her vision.

The others weren't too far behind me. As soon as we reached the supposed "greenhouse", we broke through the frosted glass and stepped inside, not the least surprised when we didn't find a single plant in sight. Instead, what we found looked to be some kind of shrine and a woman with long, dark hair standing in front of a strange altar with Chibi-Usa's glowing crystal in her hands. The woman was all that was left of Hotaru, and if she noticed our arrival, she didn't acknowledge it, too enraptured as she prayed to her "god."

"Can you feel the power, Pharaoh 90-sama?" the woman asked. "This is the light so close to the life-force of the Taioron Crystal, the light of that little girl's ginzuishou. I, Mistress 9, will offer its power to you!"

Like hell you will, I thought, forming a ball of golden yellow light in my hand and releasing the attack as I shouted out "World Shaking!"

The attack took Mistress 9 completely by surprise. Hitting her in the back, the force was strong enough to knock her to the ground, Chibi-Usa's crystal flying right out of her hands. Neptune immediately went into action, grabbing the crystal before the vessel had a chance to recover from the attack, as Pluto and I made a blockade.

"The crystal!" Mistress 9 exclaimed, quickly scrambling back to her feet. While my attack had done its job in getting the crystal away from her, it didn't have much effect on the woman herself, other than causing her dark amethyst eyes to blaze with anger at the annoyance. "Give it back to me, you brats! It's mine!"

I resisted the urge to roll my eyes. Did she really think we would give the ginzuishou back to her just like that? "Never," I said, drawing out my sword. "That crystal rightfully belongs to an innocent little girl, one your former self used to consider a friend. If you want the crystal back, you'll have to fight us for it."

"A fight?" Mistress 9 laughed. "Somebody sure thinks highly of herself if she thinks she can defeat me with a silly little sword."

"As a vessel, you may not have the soul of a human, but you still have the body of a human, thus you possess the same physical weaknesses we all do. You can still bleed."

"Fine. If it is a fight you want, a fight you will receive!"

Her body emanating an evil aura, Mistress 9 raised her hands above her head and gathered a ball of cackling dark energy, which she then launched toward Neptune, who had sent the ginzuishou into subspace for safe-keeping. Neptune just barely missed being hit, somersaulting out of the way of the coming attack. In retaliation, I used my sword to send out a "Space Sword Blaster", but only managed in cutting off a couple feet of her long, raven black hair that instantly grew back. Mistress 9 just laughed and sent out another attack, this time in my direction.

Blessed with the speed of the wind, I easily dodged it, but Pluto wasn't so lucky. In an attempt to protect me with a shield produced by her Garnet Orb, the attack hit her full-force, throwing her to the ground with a loud thud. Pluto recovered quickly enough to send out a "Dead Scream" in combination with Neptune's "Deep Submerge," but it was obvious that she was in pain.

"Pluto, are you okay?" I asked as Mistress Nine let out a scream in response to the double attack that hit her.

"I'll be fine," she said, rubbing her shoulder. "I think I just dislocated my shoulder, that's all. Don't worry about me."

I nodded, then proceeded to send out a series of "World Shakings" in rapid succession toward Mistress 9. While the attacks did seem to weaken her momentarily, it was becoming obvious that we would not be able to destroy her with our supernatural powers alone.

Quickly, I came up with Plan B, imparting the necessary information to Pluto and Neptune as we continued to dodge Mistress 9's attacks. The only way we were going to be able to kill her was, as I suggested before, make her bleed, but I needed to somehow find a way to get close to her. I told my comrades to release their most powerful powers in another double attack, then I would strike her from behind while she was still recovering. Both Neptune and Pluto seemed hesitant at first, but when I reminded them of our mission, they had no choice but to agree.

Scattering away from each other, I headed behind Mistress Nine while Pluto and Neptune took their places on either side of the purple-clad villainess, preparing their attacks. Mistress Nine once again targeted Neptune, but before she could release the attack, she was hit with both a "Chronos Typhoon" and a "Submarine Reflection." She let out a blood-curdling scream as I then ran up behind her, my Space Sword stabbing her in the back and killing her instantly.

"Uranus!"

Ignoring the unexpected looks of horror on my lover's and comrade's faces, I pulled my bloodied sword out of Mistress 9's back and let the body crumple to the floor in a heap of purple skirts and black hair. A pool of blood began to form around her, dark red and undeniably human. I almost expected it to be black or some other strange color proving her evilness, but pushing back the thought, I stepped over Mistress 9's unmoving body and joined the others.

"Come," I said, putting on my mask again as I wiped the sword clean with the skirt of my fuku. "Let's finish what we started. To the laboratories."

* * *

The battle was long and hard fought, but with Mistress 9 -- I refused to call her Hotaru -- dead before she had a chance to bring Pharaoh 90 into our world, it was a far easier victory than we anticipated. Sailor Moon and the others, who must have somehow managed to escape, joined us about halfway through the fight with Gelmaido, the former Professor Tomoe, and helped us defeat the rest of the remaining daimon, still under the impression that they had a chance to save their friend.

I didn't have the heart to tell them it was all for naught, keeping my mouth shut even when Venus asked me if I knew where Hotaru was. We had bigger things to worry about at the moment.

"Where's Hotaru-chan?" Sailor Moon demanded to know as soon as her attack destroyed Gelmaido, black ooze splattering and decorating the destroyed laboratory. "We have to save her and get back Chibi-Usa's ginzuishou before it's too late."

Bringing my blood-and-ooze coated Space Sword to my side, I glanced over at Neptune. Her eyes, so full of passion and determination only moments before in the heat of battle, had darkened with sorrow, and I knew it was a look reflected in my own. Though I knew I had done the right thing in killing Mistress 9, I did not look forward to telling the others.

"Where is Hotaru-chan, Uranus?" Sailor Moon asked again when none of us answered, her voice more desperate than before. "Tell me!"

"Hota…Mistress 9 is gone," I finally declared, forcing myself to keep my head raised high even as Mercury gasped in realization, the first to understand what I meant. Beside me, I sensed Neptune approach and take my hand in a silent show of support. "For the good of this world, I killed her. Our mission was a success."

"What?"

I would never forget the look on Sailor Moon's face in that moment when Neptune brought out her future daughter's ginzuishou, providing undeniable proof that Mistress 9 had been defeated. Her skin, which had been flushed red from the exertion of battle, drained to a deathly pale, and the light of hope that had shone in her eyes only moments ago disappeared.

"No," she whispered, her body trembling with unreleased tears. "It can't be true. Tell me you're lying, Uranus. Tell me! Tell me it isn't true! You couldn't have killed her…"

Though I wished I could tell her it was all a cruel joke, I remained silent as Pluto walked over and joined us, the princess's guardians staring at us as if we were criminals on trial.

"We'll take this back to Chibi-Usa-chan," Neptune said. "She should hear what happened from us."

With that, we left.

* * *

When we arrived at Mamoru's apartment, Usagi and the others hadn't come back yet, which I suppose was a good thing. We found father and daughter resting peacefully in the bedroom, Mamoru's hand still tightly clutching Chibi-Usa's, providing her with the necessary life energy. The strain of keeping both their bodies alive on his power alone was obviously taking its toll on Mamoru, who had fallen asleep sometime while we were gone, but we were all glad to see they were fine, Pluto especially. Neptune and I hadn't known her for long, but we could sense Pluto shared a special connection with both of them.

"Should we wake them up?" Pluto whispered, walking over to Chibi-Usa's side of the bed and taking a seat on the edge of the mattress. The guardian of time looked almost motherly as she brushed a strand of cotton-candy pink hair off the little girl's ashen face. "Oh, how are we supposed to tell her about Hotaru-chan?" she asked, glancing back up at us. "She's going to be heartbroken."

Neither Neptune nor I had an answer. In many ways, informing the future princess of Hotaru's death would be even harder than telling Sailor Moon and the others. Even if she was the reason why the girl was fighting for her life, Hotaru had been Chibi-Usa's best friend.

Almost as if she sensed my apprehension, Neptune reached for my hand and gave it a light squeeze just as Mamoru awoke.

"Pluto?" The prince sat up and blinked, surprised by our presence. "Uranus? Neptune? What are you doing here? Is it over?"

"We came to return something."

Calling the crystal from subspace, Michiru released Chibi-Usa's ginzuishou and guided it back to its true owner. The ginzuishou returned to the Chibi-Usa's body, and within seconds, I could see the rosy color returning to the little girl's cheeks, her red eyes fluttering open. Out of the corner of my eye, I saw Pluto wipe away a tear of relief as Chibi-Usa looked around the room, confused but otherwise in good shape.

"Puu?" Sitting up, Chibi-Usa rubbed the last remnants of sleep from her eyes, her mouth breaking into a huge smile when she realized that she wasn't dreaming. "Puu! You saved me!"

Chibi-Usa tossed her covers aside and threw her arms around the time guardian's neck, Pluto returning the embrace even with her injured shoulder. Neptune smiled, but it was a smile tinged with sadness. We both knew that once Chibi-Usa knew the truth, their relationship would never be the same.

"Small Lady, I'm so glad you're okay," Pluto said, her voice slightly cracking as she kissed the top of the girl's head. "So very, very glad…"

"Where are Usagi and the others?" Finally pulling away from the hug, Chibi-Usa slid off the bed despite her father's orders not to overexert herself and ran over to the door leading to the living room. "Did you defeat the enemy?" she asked, sticking her head outside to see if the others were in the other room. "Did you save Hotaru-chan?"

Inwardly, I winced at the last question, but though I thought it was only fair that I break the news, Pluto shook her head. "I'll tell her," she mouthed before rising from the bed. "Small Lady, come back here. I have something to tell you."

Closing the door, Chibi-Usa slowly walked back over, her joy from earlier fading when she saw the serious looks on our faces. Even Mamoru seemed alarmed.

"Masaka, it's not Usa-ko, is it?"

I shook my head, glad that we had at least one piece of good news to share. "Usagi-chan and her guard are fine, Chiba-san. They should be back any moment."

He let out a sigh of relief. "Thank goodness."

"Then what's wrong?" Chibi-Usa asked. "Why do you all look so sad?"

Sighing, Pluto kneeled down in front of the girl who was almost a daughter to her and took Chibi-Usa's hands in her own. "I-It's about what happened tonight," she began, faltering. "Something horrible happened."

"What? Didn't you defeat the enemy, Puu?"

Before Pluto had a chance to answer, the door to the bedroom slid back opened, and Usagi, no longer transformed, stepped inside. Except it wasn't the Usagi we knew from before. Gone were the permanent smile and cheerful disposition, replaced instead by eyes narrowed in anger and an overall gloomy mood that seemed to fill the room.

"Yes, Chibi-Usa. Uranus and the others succeeded in their mission," Usagi said bitterly, answering the question for Pluto. "The world is safe thanks to them."

"Really? That's gr--" Abruptly, Chibi-Usa stopped, her eyes falling on me. "Blood? Whose blood is that?"

Mentally, I cursed myself as I looked down at my gloves, realizing I probably should have changed back into Haruka before we arrived. I had completely forgotten about the dried blood and ooze caking my fuku, evidence of Mistress 9's death by my hand. She hadn't needed to see that.

"Tell her, Uranus," Usagi ordered when none of us offered an explanation, her cerulean eyes practically daring me to confess to my supposed crime. "Tell us whose blood stains those gloves."

Surprised by the harsh tone of his lover's voice, Mamoru's cobalt eyes widened. "Usa-ko!"

But I remained firm in my resolve, clenching my hands into fists as I brought them back down to my sides. Hotaru's death was unfortunate, yes, but I refused to let the odango-haired blonde make me feel guilty for what I had done. Because of us, the world had been saved from almost certain destruction. If one life was the sacrifice for a peaceful future -- any future at all, for that matter -- then I would not be ashamed for completing our mission.

"It's Hotaru's blood," I finally admitted. "We killed her, Chibi-Usa-chan. I'm sorry."

"What?" Shaking her head, Chibi-Usa turned back to Pluto. "Tell me it isn't true, Puu," she begged, tears beginning to well in her eyes. "It can't be true. Uranus is lying, isn't she? I won't believe it. Hotaru-chan can't be dead, she can't be!"

"Small Lady, we had no choice. If we allowed Hotaru to live and awaken as Sailor Saturn, then this world would have been destroyed."

"Then it's true? You murdered Hotaru-chan?" Chibi-Usa asked, bring a hand to her mouth.

Pluto reached for the girl's other hand, her face full of sympathy. "Listen, I know how much Hotaru mean--"

"No, don't touch me!" Chibi-Usa yanked her hand away. "You killed her! You killed my best friend, and I'll never forgive you for as long as I live!" she screamed before running off to the living room, sobbing.

"Chibi-Usa!"

"Small Lady!"

Both Pluto and Mamoru got up to run after her, but Neptune grabbed our partner's arm, holding her back. Not that it really mattered, for as soon as Mamoru had left to comfort their future daughter, Usagi closed the door behind him, effectively blocking Pluto's path as she stood guard.

"Are you proud of yourself, Uranus?" Usagi asked, her voice low and unfamiliar from the chipper, happy tone we knew so well.

"Princess, you know we didn't have a choice," I declared as I stepped forward, wishing there was someway I could make her and the others understand.

"You always had a choice. You just chose the wrong one."

"Hate us if you must, but we did the right thing. Hotaru should have died a long time ago in that fire. We were only--"

"Don't try to justify your actions, you murderer!" Usagi yelled, her hand slapping me, hard, across the face. "Nothing you say will change the fact that you killed an innocent little girl."

I brought a hand up to my cheek, which stung from the force of her slap, but even then, I would not let myself feel regret for my actions. Usagi had a right to be angry, and if it made her feel better to project that anger on me, then fine. I would accept her hatred, though it pained my heart, but I refused to feel guilty for what I had done.

"I'm sorry it had to end this way, Usagi-chan."

"Just get out of here, all of you." Swiping her sleeve over her eyes, Usagi collapsed on Mamoru's bed and buried her face in a pillow. "Just go."

* * *

Instead of each of us returning to our own apartments, it was decided that we would go back to my place, both Michiru and Setsuna offering to help me clean up the mess Cyprine had made earlier that day. I originally planned just to hire professionals to clean up and stay with Michiru in the mean time, but they were so insistent on the idea, I had no choice but to reluctantly agree.

They didn't say as much, but I got the feeling that neither of them wanted to be alone after what happened. I couldn't say I necessarily blamed them. I, too, welcomed the company of my comrades, even if we were too lost in our own thoughts to socialize much as we walked back to my building.

No matter how hard I tried, I couldn't stop thinking about what had happened. Visions of Mistress 9's body laying in the middle of a pool of red blood and of Usagi's face kept replaying themselves over and over in my head.

"Are you okay, Haruka?" Michiru asked as we stepped out of the elevator and headed to my apartment. "You've been awfully quiet since we left Chiba-san's apartment."

Nodding, I pulled out my keys and unlocked the door. "I'm fine, Michiru," I lied, stepping inside the trashed apartment. "Well, welcome to Casa Tenoh. Or at least what's left of it."

The damage was even worse than I remembered from the first time we had come here to tell the others about our mission. Broken glass littered the floor, furniture was knocked over, and several cracks lined the walls. In the interest of safety, I told them they could keep their shoes on instead of changing into the slippers lined up by the door as they entered the apartment.

"They really did a number on this place, didn't they?" Michiru said, heading to the kitchen for some trash bags. Glass crunched underneath her Jimmy Choo heels with almost every step she took. "At least it looks like it's confined to the living room."

"Do you happen to have some gloves we could borrow to pick up this glass, Haruka?" Setsuna asked, bending down to carefully pick up some of the larger pieces and throw them in the wastebasket.

"Yeah, I'll go get them."

I retrieved three pairs of old driving gloves for us to use from my bedroom, then we got to work picking up the pieces of glass and other miscellaneous broken materials that littered the floor.

It was, for the most part, silent work. Occasionally, one of us would cry out -- or, in my case, curse violently -- when we managed to cut ourselves on one of the pieces despite the protection of the gloves, but neither of the other girls seemed anxious to talk about what happened, which was just fine by me. As far as I was concerned, the sooner we forgot about the whole ugly battle, the better. There was no point in dwelling on the past, when thanks to us, we had a bright future to look forward to.

That's what I had to keep telling myself -- Hotaru's death hadn't been for nothing. Because of what we had done, this world had a future. Chances are, if we had left the fate of the world in the hands of our naïve, kind-hearted princess and her loyal friends, we wouldn't even be here right now, cleaning up Cyprine's mess as if it was just the end of another normal day of battle. The world would have been destroyed.

Destroyed.

So why couldn't I feel proud of myself?

Why did this feel like such a hallow victory?

I was so caught up in my thoughts, I barely noticed when Setsuna set down her trash bag and ran out onto the small balcony outside my apartment. However, the sound of the time guardian's soft sobs, easily heard from the balcony thanks to the shattered glass separator leading outside, were harder to ignore, even when I tried my best to block them out of my mind by loudly humming "Ode to Joy" to myself.

"Haruka."

Reluctantly, I stopped my humming and looked up from my sweeping of the tinier particles of glass to see Michiru staring outside with sympathy at the woman who, in a short time, had become much more than just our fighting partner and fellow soldier. As I had suspected, Setsuna was having the hardest time dealing with what had happened. Though I rather would have stayed inside, cleaning, I tossed the glass I swept up in the wastebasket and followed Michiru out onto the balcony.

"Setsuna?" Michiru came up beside the time guardian and lightly touched her shoulder, causing the time guardian to wince slightly at the pain. We had told her she ought to see a doctor about the injury she had sustained during the battle, but Setsuna had refused, saying it would heal in a couple of days on its own, thanks to her senshi power. "Setsuna, are you okay?"

Setsuna shook her head, her long, forest green hair blowing slightly in the soft breeze. "Small Lady hates me," she murmured, barely loud enough for us to hear. "She'll never forgive me for what we've done."

Standing with my back against the railing, I crossed my arms over my chest and stared back into the apartment, not wanting to see Setsuna's undoubtedly tear-streaked face. "She'll get over it," I said, not even believing it myself. "They'll all get over it once the shock wears off. Once they realize we did what needed to be done--"

"Haruka, this isn't some minor betrayal! You know as well as I do what we did to Hotaru-chan was unforgivable."

"It might be unforgivable, but it was our only choice, Setsuna," Michiru reminded her in a gentler tone than I would have used if given the chance. "If we allowed Sailor Saturn to awaken, this entire world would have been destroyed. Did you really want to see a repeat of what happened to Silver Millennium?"

For a moment, Setsuna looked as if she wanted to protest, but instead, she shook her head, the truth of Michiru's words ringing true. "You're right; I'm just being silly. We did what we had to do to save the world." Wiping away her tears with the bottom of her palm, Setsuna forced a small smile, but it was far from convincing. "I think I'm going to go take a couple of those bags down to the trash bin. I'll be back in a few minutes," she said, heading back inside.

Setsuna left, leaving Michiru and me out on the balcony. I started to go in after her when I noticed Michiru hadn't moved from her spot, her hands tightly gripping the iron railing as she looked out upon city with a pensive face. Was something wrong? Coming up behind her, I wrapped my arms around her waist in comfort but was surprised when I felt her body stiffen in my embrace. Immediately, I released her, hurt by what I saw was a sign of rejection from my lover.

"You're angry with me," I accused, not believing what was happening. Setsuna's anger, I could take, but not Michiru's. Never hers. "You're mad at me for killing Mistress 9, aren't you?"

"What?" she asked, turning around. Her eyes were wide, but I always could tell when she was putting on an act.

"Damn it, I thought we were in agreement about this, Michiru!" Smashing my fist hard against the railing, I barely felt the throbbing pain I logically knew must be traveling up my arm. "This was our mission, our duty as senshi! We knew this was going to happen from the day of our awakening," I reminded her. "What about what you said to Setsuna just now? Was that just an act for my benefit?"

"No, Haruka! I meant every word. I know we did the right thing in destroying Hotaru before she could awaken."

"But?" I prompted, taking notice of the fact that she said "destroyed" rather than "killed," as if the difference in syntax made what we had done less horrible.

"But what if Usagi-chan was right?" Michiru asked softly. "What if we could have saved the world and Hotaru-chan both?"

"You know that was impossible. Hotaru-chan was Sailor Saturn, the soldier of the planet of destruction. We couldn't allow her to awaken."

"Are you so sure?"

"Michiru, listen to me." Sighing, I took Michiru from the shoulders, forcing her to look at me. "Even if we hadn't killed Hotaru, she wouldn't have lived much longer anyway. You saw her artificial body, how weak it was. She wasn't even human anymore. Professor Tomoe turned her into a vessel, and if we hadn't killed her when we did, she would have eventually turned into a daimon, our enemy. What we did is no different than what we have been doing all along!"

"I know that, Haruka!" she said, her eyes welling with tears as she wiggled out from my hold on her and turned back around. "But she was still only a little girl."

"Michiru…" Attempting once again to comfort her, I reached for Michiru's shoulder, but she stepped away from my touch and headed back inside. "Where are you going?" I asked as she pointlessly slid open what was left of the separator.

"I'm going to make us some tea," she replied coolly before stepping inside.

"Michiru!"

Fine, be like that. I didn't care.

Sighing, I turned back around, resting my arms on the railing and looking down at what remained of our old school, Mugen Academy. The once towering skyscraper, the jewel of the Delta, had been reduced to nothing more than a large pile of rubble, but the damage was minimal compared to what would have happened had we allowed Saturn to awaken. At least that mess was relatively easy to clean. Within a couple of years, another building would take it place and the entire city would have forgotten all about Mugen Academy. Life would go on as usual, instead of being silenced forever by the dropping of Saturn's glaive.

What was the matter with those two? Didn't Michiru and Setsuna realize what we had done? Couldn't they see past Hotaru's death to see what we had saved? In the grand scheme of things, one life was nothing.

One life instead of countless billions.

One life that should have ended years ago.

One life that wasn't even human.

_Don't try to justify your actions, you murderer. Nothing you say will change the fact that you killed an innocent little girl._

But it was still one life.

Had the end really justified our means?

DISCLAIMER: Sailor Moon belongs to Takeuchi Naoko.

AUTHOR'S NOTES: I hope you enjoyed the story.Some of the dialogue, especially from the first scene, was taken from either Alex Glover's or Mixx's translations of the manga.

TITLE EXPLANATION: For those who don't know, Nicolo Machiavelli was author of a book on government called _The Prince_. He is probably most know for the idea put forth in _The Prince_ that "the end justifies the means."


End file.
